(VIDEO) Attack on Titan Gets 3-Day U.S. Release

This is huge news. No, seriously, Toho is Giving Us Live-Action Titans!

The insanely popular manga “Attack on Titan,” which was released in Japan at the start of August, is getting a US release in September and October. The films will have English subtitles and each film will run for only three days. It is rare for Japanese films, especially those other than animated movies, to be released theatrically in the United States, so we weren’t joking when we said this was huge news!

The original comic book series has spawned animated TV and film adaptations, which faithfully follow the story of the manga. But the live-action films are taking a more original turn. The two-part movie caused an uproar for the combined use of “tokusatsu” special effects and computer graphics.

It’s significant that Toho, famous in the west for its kaiju movies like Godzilla, should be behind the live-action version of Attack On Titan; the manga and anime are very much rooted in the Japanese kaiju tradition, and succeed in harking back to Ishiro Honda’s Godzilla from 1954.

If Toho’s live-action Attack On Titan can recreate the same sense of menace and outright repulsion as the Titans in the anime and manga, it could result in a truly unique and unusually savage new take on the time-worn kaiju genre.

Attack on Titan is also very unusual because the first part was only released a few months prior on Aug. 1 in Japan, with the second part hitting screens on Sept. 19.

Watch the sub-titled trailer for both Parts:

As with many limited release events, the film will not screen at every area theater. Funimation Entertainment, the company behind the U.S. release, is suggesting people reserve tickets in advance as it’s expected to be extremely popular.

Are you excited for this release? Will it be as good as the original source material?